Summary
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The European Commission has advanced infringement action concerning delayed customs IT deployment. Greece has received a reasoned opinion for failing to deploy its National Import System, France has received a reasoned opinion concerning the Automated Export System, and Portugal has received an initial letter of formal notice concerning AES.
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The National Import System supports fiscal and non-fiscal import controls, while AES digitalises export and exit procedures. Delayed deployment may affect declaration processing, interoperability, trader migration, revenue collection and enforcement of restrictions, even where temporary national or fallback arrangements remain available.
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Greece and France could be referred to the Court of Justice if their responses are unsatisfactory. Portugal remains at the first formal stage. Importers and exporters should verify national system readiness, trader migration status, message specifications, contingency procedures and any country-specific submission requirements.
Article
The European Commission has taken further infringement action against Greece, France and Portugal over failures to deploy customs electronic systems required under the Union Customs Code framework.
Greece has received a reasoned opinion in case INFR(2025)2019 for failing to deploy its National Import System. France has received a reasoned opinion in case INFR(2025)2060 concerning the Automated Export System. Portugal has received a letter of formal notice in case INFR(2026)2134 for its failure to deploy AES.
The National Import System supports the electronic processing of import declarations and the application of fiscal and non-fiscal measures to goods entering the EU. It also connects with other national applications used for revenue collection, customs controls and the enforcement of prohibitions and restrictions.
AES is intended to automate export procedures and exit formalities across common EU, national and external domains. It supports the exchange of information between customs offices and assists customs authorities in confirming that goods have exited the EU customs territory.
Electronic data processing is a foundational requirement of the Union Customs Code. The Code is designed to deliver paperless customs procedures, harmonised information exchange and common facilities for economic operators across Member States. Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2023/2879 sets the detailed deployment programme. It records that Member States and traders were expected to use the upgraded AES from 2 December 2024, subject to limited technical transition rules until 11 February 2025. [eur-lex.europa.eu] [eur-lex.europa.eu]
The different procedural stages are important. Greece and France have already progressed from letters of formal notice to reasoned opinions. If they do not address the Commission’s concerns within two months, the Commission may refer the cases to the Court of Justice. Portugal has two months to respond to its initial letter, after which the Commission may issue a reasoned opinion.
Businesses trading through the affected jurisdictions should determine whether all economic operators, customs agents and internal systems have migrated to the required platforms. They should also test message flows, export confirmation processes and contingency arrangements. Failures in electronic export evidence can have consequences beyond customs compliance, including the substantiation of VAT exemption for exports and the closure of customs procedures.
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